Fashion - Product Perfect (1979/2023)

This band from Birmingham, England, blended offbeat funk with an independent spirit that seemed destined to ensure them commercial success. Originally a trio comprising John Mulligan (bass), Dix (drums) and Luke (guitar), Fashion issued three diverse singles on their own label, spurred on by the do-it-yourself attitudes in the wake of punk. After November 1978’s ‘Steady Eddie Steady’ came ‘Citinite’ in June and then Perfect Product, an impressive debut album. ‘Silver Blades’ followed in March 1980, ensuring a contract with Arista Records. Now swelled to a six-piece with Martin Stoker (ex-Dance; Bureau) on drums, vocalist Tony (ex-Neon Hearts) and main songwriter De Harriss, many predicted that their resultant singles would break the band on the back of the futurist scene of the early 80s. ‘Street Player - Mechanik’ in March 1982, ‘Love Shadow’ in August and later, ‘Eye Talk’ in January 1984, all scraped the lower reaches of the chart, but failed to establish the band in the public eye. Despite this, Fashion enjoyed a strong undercurrent of support, reflected in a UK Top 10 album, Fabrique, in June 1982. However, interest gradually waned, the band moved to Epic, and Twilight Of The Idols, issued exactly two years later, was not as warmly received, despite two singles, ‘Dreaming’ in April 1984 and ‘You In The Night’ in June.